Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy Volume 26

Gave this book to relative who is a big fan of Dick Tracy. He has the entire collection of this series except for the final volume which he will receive next Christmas. Sorry this series has finally come to its end.

great love it

For me to review this book is almost redundant. If you read David Swan’s review of this book you pretty much have my thoughts EXACTLY. I highly recommend his review. The only thing I can really add that he didn’t mention was we see more of Gould’s transition from 4 panel dailies to some 3 and 2 panel dailies. In other words making some panels double-wide and showcasing his work more brilliantly than ever. A definite positive. If there is a negative it’s that Gould does often come off as old fashioned and out of touch with the changing times. No influence from anything from The Beatles or Motown to the Vietnam War. Ironic that he would be out of touch with these “far out” ideas yet he drifted to the extreme with all the Moon people stuff in recent other volumes. Two slight corrections to things mentioned in David Swan’s review: The “steady .38” comment was made by Chief Patton not Chief Brandon. Brandon resigned after the death of Brilliant some 20 years earlier. Pat Patton was named as his successor. As far black characters appearing in the strip before... they’re there. Since the first or second volume. Not in any way more flattering than this single appearance here. Actually worse. Black characters do seem to completely disappear from the strip for a good number of years though until this doorman appears. While it could have been much worse it was not the refreshing return to the strip I would have hoped for (or expected from Gould).

Several years ago, I read through all the Dick Tracy volumes through 25 (the one with Scorpio on the cover). There were definitely some rough patches in there for several years of the strip, and I was losing interest. But recently I got interested again, and acquired the final 4 volumes. I am glad I did, because I am really enjoying Volume 26 so far (I am about 2/3 of the way through it). I won't spoil any of the stories, so I will leave it there.

Like others have mentioned, David Swan's review sums it up pretty well. I find this one quite the improvement. The last few volumes really upped the reactionary, right-wing factor - there was one panel, in particular, where Tracy brutally beats a criminal that had me cringing, and I don't cringe easily. Some of that element is still here, but it's toned down a bit, there is a bit less of the so-called reminiscing for the fascist 'good ol' days', and in place of that, we're getting some good forensics and some pretty good stories, too. Thankfully, the ridiculous moon stuff is barely present. Some of the stories seem a bit like filler (like the Triplets), and the 'drug lord' storyline seemed to end before it really got started, but other stories definitely had the flow of some of the best classic Gould stories. I'm not a fan of how Gould usually portrays children (as precocious and incredibly annoying), but he really hit it out of the park with that brilliant Peanutbutter kid. I do wonder a bit about Gould's cognitive abilities, as there's a few glaring inconsistencies... Tracy's mustache goes away, he says Tess made him take it off, then, oddly, it reappears a few weeks later, with no mention. Another one, where Sam says "Wow, it's really warm in here, why is the fireplace on?", then two panels later, Tracy reveals it's a fake fire that is putting out no heat. Small quibbles, of course. I also really love the artwork from this later Tracy period - it can be quite striking with broad, thick lines, and excellent use of shadows. We're getting to the end of the line here. I look forward to the next few volumes. I never knew much about the 70's period, because so much of it was unavailable for so long. If this volume is any indication, I think it will be better than the moon period/late 60's era, which, as most people seem to agree, is Gould's weakest era. Of course, if you're a completist, as I am, you're gonna get this and all of the others, either way.

This is a really strong volume of Tracy. The plots are all pretty quick-paced, which can be pretty uncommon if you look at all the stories in the strip as a whole. We get a surprisingly low number of prominent villains, but the stories were interesting enough that I didn't care. (Besides, a lot of Tracy stories with prominent villains, especially in the Fifties onward, sometimes focused more on them the actual story.) Tracy, Liz, and Groovy Grove get more time to shine personality-wise. Gould either removes or cuts down on a lot of his worse impulses: the Moon storylines, the NASA-bashing, the police getting border-line fascist, the jabs at, at-the-time, modern dialogue-heavy comic strips. (I didn't really dislike the Moon stuff, but I admit non-crime related elements of the Moon civilization got dragged out or repetitive.) We still get a lot of hippie bashing. Also, there ares some references to criminals being "giggly types" which could be jabs at effeminate or gay men. Gould's artwork remains strong with his excellent use of black silhouettes and shadows. Chameleon, The Pouch, Molene, and Johnny Scorn- 5/5- I won't spoil The Pouch's specific gimmick, but he may be Gould's most inventive character. We get a fun group of rogues and over-the-top criminal operations. The triplets- 4/5- A quickie but a fun, police forensics story. The drug smugglers- 5/5- Has a pretty impressive beginning and life-or-death situation for one of our heroes. The treasure map- 4/5- Another interesting tale with a pretty good death trap. The thieves- 5/5- Has an interesting opening, the character of the precocious kid Peanut Putter is fun, and there is a great chase scene.

Great volume. Love the stern soapbox comments dropped on occasion by Gould. Much of the criminal element is trash. A hole in the head was usually an improvement. Like my old hero Nixon used to call them, "weirdos and beardos." MAGA!!!

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